Thank You New York...

...for the great time we had in your city. Spring Break saw us in the Big Apple for a whirlwind 4 days. Forget Disneyland, this is the best place to take children. They love the hustle & noise of the city & with pizza, delis & hot dogs on every corner, keeping their energy up is easy & cheap. We saw Ms. Liberty from the Statten Island Ferry, did Wall Street & then stopped by the incredibly poweful Ground Zero & St. Pauls Chapel. Broadway included an evening at The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee which was a riot. Max laughed so hard there were tears rolling down his cheeks! Other highlights included Mass at St. Patricks & the subsequent parade, Central Park & the tracking down of the original Pooh, Eyore, Piglet, Tigger & Roo at the O'Donnell Library. New York's best kept secret? Actually it's the fact that New Yorkers are so friendly & will go out of their way to help a visitor.

My Scootering Heritage

Finally got my mother to dig out some old photographs of my dad & his scooters. The little guy is me, the scoot is a circa 1960 Vespa assembled in the UK by Douglas. Up until their first Ford Cortina, a Vespa was my parent's sole transportation. My father claims that this one was never very reliable & he was not really sorry to see it go. According to my mother, the addition of the windshield protected the driver and circulated the wind back around to batter the passenger half to death!

Album Noir

2 new albums on deck. Both with a noir look. Coincidence? Mr. Fagen's latest effort will not disappoint the Steely Dan crowd, although personally I think it's a little lackluster. How do you follow something like Nightfly anyway? As for the Hidden Beach offering, another gem from my favorite black power label. This one's a little mellower than the previous releases, great for kicking back & mellowing out. Support these guys, it's music business with integrity and soul.

Won't Get Fooled Again?

So the business cycle spins; the old buzzwords of the 90s have apparently been replaced with new ones. Integrity. Honesty. Are our corporations gaining new sensibilities? Am I just a cynic in believing this may have more to do with Sarbanes-Oxley than an actual change of heart? Maybe when I see a real commitment to bettering employees lives I'll become a believer. Who will be the first to offer their overworked salaried staff a 36 hour work week & 20 days paid vacation? Remember, charity begins at home.

Views From Iran

The best piece I've seen about the current situation in the Middle East. I applaud the author's insight & her bravery posting such a piece in a place where the personal risks are so great.